ViewSonic VSD220 - Turns Android Into A Desktop Computer

ViewSonic turns Android into a
desktop computer. Does the combination work well?

Imagine this scenario. You have a laptop
computer with a monitor attached. It’s a nice, 22-inch monitor. Sometimes you
don’t need the full laptop experience, but you do want to use the internet,
access some apps or do some gaming. You fancy using Android. With the VSD22O
you can do just that. Unhook it from your computer and it becomes a giant
Android device, with 21 and a half viewable inches and 1,920 x 1,080 pixels of
display area at Android’s disposal.

Unhook
it from your computer and it becomes a giant Android device, with 21 and a half
viewable inches and 1,920 x 1,080 pixels of display area at Android’s disposal.

This sounds like a great idea, and there
are some other goodies in the mix. As well as connecting to your computer via
HDM1, the VSD22O can connect to the internet either via its Wi-Fi connection or
Ethernet. There are two full-sized USB 2.0 ports into which can be plugged a
keyboard, mouse, USB stick or hard drive, as well as a micro USB connector.

The screen is touching sensitive, and while
it is not capacitive, (it uses optical touch technology instead), it still
supports two-finger gestures such as pinch-to-zoom, and we found it nicely
responsive to our own fingers.

And there’s an integrated stand so that the
VSD22O can sit on a table or desk anywhere you like. The stand can be used to
prop the VSD22O at any angle right down to nearly flat on the desk, and it is
solid. We worried that we might topple the VSD22O over by prodding at the
screen, but it is far too sturdy for that. Some might even say the build is a
little on the heavy side, but we think it is fine.

And
there’s an integrated stand so that the VSD22O can sit on a table or desk anywhere
you like.

The dual-core 1GHz processor is as good as
many we’ve seen running more traditional Android tablets. It’s not up to the
speeds of the very best, but it is perfectly adequate for netbook-style tasks,
which is most likely what you’ll be doing here. The Android version isn’t
compromised either with full fat Android 4.0, complete with access to the Play
store so you can fill the VSD22O with downloaded apps for oversized sessions of
Angry Birds.

There’s a reasonably generous 8GB of
built-in storage space, and you are entitled to add to this with a micro SD
card.

There’s no built-in battery and no GPS, and
the screen doesn’t automatically rotate. But these features are hardly
important in a device that you are not going to carry with you as you would a
more standard tablet or phone. Never mind the size, the VSD22O weighs all of
5.8kg in total. How, exactly, would you carry it around?

So far, it all seems very clever. But sadly
we can’t give the VSD22O a complete thumbs up. First off, a physical design
issue annoys us. Ethernet, HDMI and micro SD card slots, as well as the main
power cable all sit behind a plastic cover on the back of the VSD22O, at its
bottom edge, right under the stand. You literally have to tip the VSD22O flat
to get to it when you want to plug in a connector. This is awkward when you
want to move the device around, and really limits the extent to which you will
change the micro SD card in the machine. Given that we enjoyed using the VSD22O
to view shots from our camera this was irritating.

Given
that we enjoyed using the VSD22O to view shots from our camera this was
irritating.

And then there is a more fundamental
concern in the way the VSD22O handles Android. Yes you get full Android 4.0,
but it has not been optimized for the screen resolution and apps can leave huge
chunks of black, empty space unused, or can stretch out to fill the whole
screen.

Neither is ideal, with the latter often
leaving images pixelated. Once there are more 1080p and above devices on the
market we will start to see apps become optimised for the higher resolution
display, and this machine will benefit then. But that will take a while and the
solution in the meantime is far from satisfactory.

Neither
is ideal, with the latter often-leaving images pixelated.

And with that it really feels like the
ViewSonic VSD22O is missing out on its true potential. But it is undoubtedly a
clever idea, and even if we wouldn’t recommend it for its Android uses alone,
if you’re in the market for a new monitor and fancy a handful of extra features
thrown in on top then it might be worth a second look.